Ya know it is totally liberating to ignore structural constraints and the safety of pedestrians. I was out running (anything faster than a walk is considered running..) and I thought Carousel Bridge! It is kinetic like the unfolding bridge and environmental conscious since it is powered by the river current.

You get on one side and glide like a playground merry-go-round to the other side. Kinda like a flat ski lift. Maybe I could put benches on the bridge and you could have coffee on certain parts?

Anyway I haven’t finished it yet. (look for the imaginary supports for the outer ring..) I’m not sure I am going to finish it until I hear from HP if it is an original idea.

I just know he is going to point me to one already built somewhere……

Update: The version of the bridge below would be turned by rollers on the land. (Hidden of course) So the wheel bridge spans the river and no structure is really needed in the water.

Another quick render (lost of noise) and slippery!

Update: The following version would use a spindle in the middle to turn the wheel like a bicycle wheel. I think the one above is more attractive and would allow debris to float underneath. The one below could be raised to let river traffic go by…

I was discussing the subject of bridge concepts with a colleague and one of the things he mentioned is the difficulty in thinking outside the box when you know how a bridge actually goes together. Knowing that something will never work is really hard to overcome.

I think that is one of the barriers to engineers being creative. Think how kids and architects (Ha!) can come up with fantastic unbuildable structures while engineers come up with completely buildable square boxes.

We know what can be built and it hinders our ability for experimentation. How to overcome this problem, drinking, maybe, but maybe just playing around with improbable structures to see what happens…

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about change, especially how to change engineers. (It doesn’t have to be engineers strictly speaking, but it does boil down to changing minds.)

My wife, a vegan, believes that all meat eaters will eventually see the light and change to a plant based lifestyle once they are forced into it. By that I mean, they will face a catastrophic health scare and the Doctor will suggest a more congenial food regime.

Is that the key to changing engineering minds? Some kind of catastrophic occurrence? How do you motivate change? Small nudges on a daily basis, or a major wallop to the frontal lobe? (Figuratively speaking of course.)

The Wards Island Bridge, also known as the 103rd Street Footbridge, is a pedestrian bridge crossing the Harlem River between Manhattan Island and Wards Island in New York City. The vertical lift bridge has a total of twelve spans consisting of steel towers and girders. It only carries pedestrian and bicycle traffic.